Appalachian Festival epitomizes effort to celebrate regional culture

Maryland Traditions is an Arts Council program that encourages communities to share and preserve their traditional arts and culture. It produces five public events each year. The National Endowment for the Arts provides partial funding through its folk-arts program.

Two of the events occurred in September: Frostburg State University’s Appalachian Festival, Sept. 18-19 in Frostburg; and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County’s Magical Montgomery in Silver Spring, Sept. 26. The final Maryland Traditions event of the year is the Chesapeake Wildlife Expo, presented by the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury University on the Eastern Shore, Oct. 9-10.

The two other annual Maryland Traditions events are in June and July. Maryland Traditions Gathering/Maryland Masters Showcase is at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance in June, and the Chesapeake Folk Festival at the Chesapeake Maritime Museum in St. Michaels follows.

As an example of the impact that these events have, Bill Mandicott, secretary-treasurer of the Arts Council, says: “The Appalachian Festival is an economic engine that has reminded us all how the arts can kick-start local economies.” A Western Maryland resident, Mandicott is assistant vice-president for Student and Community Involvement at Frostburg State University.

He says that an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people attended the festival and more than 200 artists – exhibitors, demonstrators, musicians, storytellers and actors – participated.

In the “Folkways Tent,” visitors could learn about basket-making, clogging, bluegrass music, playing a mountain dulcimer (a string instrument), soap-making and building banjos. Other festival demonstrations showcased beekeeping, goat-milking, the making of apple butter, fly fishing and working with natural dyes.

Earlier this year, Mountain City Traditional Arts opened in the downtown Frostburg Arts and Entertainment District. The center presents local artwork, including hand-crafted items that reflect Appalachian style. It also stages musical performances, literary readings and small productions. Classes and workshops are on the center’s schedule, too.

Mountain City Traditional Arts is a partnership of the Allegany Arts Council, Frostburg State University, and the Frostburg First, A Maryland Main Street program.

“When you consider all that is going on Allegany County – the Appalachian Festival, the launching of Mountain City, the ROOTS Music Series and Cultural Event Series at Frostburg, and the Arts Walks in Frostburg and Cumberland – you see how Western Maryland is working to preserve and promote its cultural heritage,” Mandicott says.